Overhead-suspended car for race tracks



April 3, 1951 R. A. MAssEY 2,547,715

ovERrmAn-susPENnEn CAR Foa RACE TRACKS Filed July 24, 1947 INVENTOR. Romana' A. Mmny Patented Apr. 3, 1951 OVERHEAD-SUSPEN DED CAR FOR RACE TRACKS Robert A. Massey, New York, N. Y. Application July 24, 1947, Serial No. '763,389

3 Claims.

This invention provides a new and useful electrically propelled overhead suspended, full szed, passenger vehicle or car, or midget self-propelled car without passengers, for travel around a race track or the like during progress of a race.

According to the invention, the car, provided with a number of comfortable seats and covered over its top with glass extended down to below the eye level of the seated passengers, is preferably shaped like an automobile body, but made much less expensively and of much less weight, so that for these reasons and in view of the manner of suspension of the car the latter may be made at trilling cost compared to that of an ordinary road vehicle of the same passenger capacity-say a passenger capacity of six persons. Thus, al1 the official judges could be passengers in the car, as comfortably seated therein as though on the grandstand, and yet able to observe closely every movement of the race fully as well as though somehow supported in space right over the horses or other contestants in the race at every moment of the contest.

The suspension of the full sized or midget car is from one or more overhead cables extended to encircle the race track, and current supply and return Wires extend parallel with such cable or cables so that an electric motor in the car may be energized by Way of connections to said wires;

thereby permitting an ordinary stop, start and change-speed controller such as is handled by the motcrman of a trolley car to be used in direct relation to the motor for employing the motor to propel the car. As a result, such complexities as clutch, change speed transmission, differential, and like complexities which add so much to the cost and weight of a road vehicle, are comrletely eliminated. The car, the load capacity of which need not exceed 1500 pounds, may be constructed, therefore, to have fairly light angle iron frame members, with simple interior flooring, and with an exterior below the glass top of thin sheet aluminum.

Also according to the invention, the car carries a television camera and transmitter, for operation by an occupant of the car for visual broadcasting of the race, a radio sound transmitting apparatus through the microphone of which an occupant of the car may verbally broadcast cornments on the race, and, in the case cf the midget passengerless car, an electrically operated motion picture camera for making on lm a permanent record of the race. The television lrransmitter and the camera would be so installed in the car that their lenses would be above the bottom of the transparent upper portion of the car, and such portion would be provided with windshield Wipers electrically oper-ated, so that in rainy weather said lenses would function perfectly.

The passenger or midget car may be propelled by way of the motor in any suitable way, but the preferred arrangement is to employ a power transmission from the motor to one or more propeiling wheels for the car ridingr on the cable suspension, characterized by the use of pulleys and a belt or belts, or gears of fibre r the like; as such a transmission makes the noise from travel of the car not any greater than that of a vQuiet running sewing machine. As here shown, but solely by Way of example, tv/o suspension cables are employed, each engaged by a pair of overlying groove wheels, one above a forward point of the car and one above a rear point of the car; pulleys are associated with said wheels for rotation therewith; and belts drive said pulleys. Only one suspending cable need be employed, however, if the car is of about the same or smaller size than that indicated in the accompanying drawings.

Provisions are made for ready disconnection of the car from its cable suspension, to permit transport of the car to other tracks for use there. For facilitating such transport, the car could be equipped with simple wheel including running gear to allow it to be towed to the new location. When not equipped with wheels, the car could have a flat smooth bottom for safe placement of the car on a trailer.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawing forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. l is an elevational View, looking toward the rear end of a car pursuant to the invention and one suspended from two cables; this View also showing one of several posts forA carying the mounting means for said cables, for the current supply wire and for the current return wire.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, and so showing the car of Fig. 1 in side elevation.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view vationally in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view showing said part in perspective.

of a part shown ele- Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section, taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings in detail, there will first be described the post i5 of Fig. l and the parts carried thereby and by the plurality of like posts erected at suitable intervals around the race track or other arena the contest within which is to be observed and reported on by the present invention from what may be Called the midget car of the invention, which car as a whole is marked I6.

The post i5 is shown as made of a length of channel steel suitably embedded in the ground i'i; the height of the post above the ground being such that the bottom of the car will be somewhere between l foot and feet above ground level. Said posts may be placed about 8 feet apart; each embedded, say in concrete, to a depth of about 4.- feet.

Suitably riveted to and horizontally offset from the top of the post i5 is an angle iron beam i3, stayed by a metal strip lil. Near the outer end of said beam are secured a pair of angle irons 2li downwardly converged, these secured at their bottoms to opposite sides of an upstanding rib 2i integral with a metal plate 22. l

Beyond the ends of said rib and perpendicular thereto the plate 22 carries a pair of upwardly projected elongate mounts 23, these laterally up wardly tapered, and along the crests Vof which are suitably secured under-portions of the two suspending cables 2li, which latter may well be steel cables about 5A; of an inch in diameter.

Riding on each cable 2d is a grooved wheel 25,

these wheels being above a rear point of the car i5. The wheels 25 are held to rotation about axes which are aligned at right angles to the length of the car by being xed on shafts Z maintained in coaxial relation by being journalled one in a part 2'! and the other in apart 28. The parts 2 and 2t are xedly connected at their bottoms, as by the rivets indicated, tothe upper end of a suspending bar 29 pivotally coupled at 3l) (Fig. l) near its lower end to, and at a suitable point within, the car l5 near the rear end thereof.

The parts 2l and 28, which conveniently are made as castings, are exactly alike, except that they are made, as the expression goes in foundry practice, one right-hand and the other left-hand, so that, with said parts symmetrically facing each `other as in Fig. 1, the portion 23a of the part 28 will line up with the portion Z'laA of the part 2lv when said parts are viewed as in Fig. 2.

Also fixed on each shaft 25 is a pulley 3l. An endless belt 32 connects one pulley 3i with a pulley 33 on one end of the shaft of the electric motor 3d, and another endless belt 32 connects the other pulley 3l with another pulley 3 on the other end of said motor shaft. These belts pass down into the body of the car through openings 35.

Above the front end of the car a grooved wheel 3@ rides on each cable 24, like the grooved wheels 25. The wheels 3G are also held to rotation about axes which are aligned at right angles to the length of the car by being fixed on shafts 37 journalled coaiiially transverse to the cables 2d on parts 38 and 39 connected at their bottoms, as by the rivets indicated, to the upper end of a suspending bar le pivotally coupled near its lower end to a point within the car iii, with each pivotal mounting of the bar d@ like, and in a fore and aft line with, the coupling for the rear suspending bar 29.

It may be pointed out that the part 39 is actually a duplicate of the part 28, and that the part 33 is actually a duplicate of the part 21; which fact further for reduction in the cost of manufacture of the car. Thus, just as the rearwardly downwardly extending lower portions Za and Zia of the parts 28 and 2l make room for the belts 32, the forwardly downwardly extended corresponding iportions of the parts 38 and 3S would allow for the use also of forward belts (not shown), if it were desired to add the last-named belts for driving the forward grooved wheels 3E as tractive elements additional to the rear grooved wheels 25.

In the case last referred to, the pulleys to be mounted inthe forward part of the car for driving the last-named belts could be connected by gears, belts, chains or otherwise to the motor 343 for drive therefrom.

However, said motor Vis illustrated as merely driving the wheels 25, and accordingly the shafts 3l for the wheels 3S are shown merely asv stub shafts. For these there would be substituted, should the wheels 35 be desired also to be power driven, shafts like the shafts 25 and having xed thereon pulleys lke the pulleys 3 i.'

In order to held the car it to perfect suspension from the overhead wheels 25 and 3E, that is, to prevent forward or backward sway of the suspending bars 29 and M3, these are joined by an angle iron connector beam It! having downbent portions at opposite ends secured to said bars by rivets forming parts of the riveting which couples the lower ends of the parts 2 and 28 to the bar 29 and the lower ends of the parts 38 and 3,9 to the bar dit.

Two current conducting wires d2 and 43, of copper or the like, are strung along the various posts, said wires mounted on porcelain, glass o1" other suitable insulators itl one such wire for current supply^ and the other for current return. Against each of said wires lies a contact shoe 45, each shoe suitably rockably carried at the upper end of an upstanding arm, one such arm marked 46 and the other di. These arms are at the opposite sides of the car iS, and they are substantially alike, except that the arm di is longer than the arm 13S, as shown best in Fig. l, and a pivotal mounting d8 is provided for the arm 4l at a lower point than a similar pivotal mounting 49 for the arm d'5, and with the arms arranged, for example, as in Fig. 2, of said mountings 48 and 49 are within the body of the car l5. As has been brought out above, the car of the present invention is intended for use on race tracks. The latter are usually elliptical in shape. The posts I5 are intended to be positioned around the circum" ference of the infield of the race track whereby the car i5 may overhang the track itself. When the car is going around sharp curves, that is the ends of the ellipse, the car will swing outwardly due to centrifugal force. At no time, however, will there be any appreciable inward swing of the car. Therefore, in order to maintain the arms i6 and fi?, particularly the arm lil, in contact with the trolley Wires d2 at all times, the arm il will necessarily have to have a longer throw or are of movement than the arm de.

Each arm t5 and has an offset bottom extension as shown in Fig. l, and to each of said extensions is connected a spring 5e for yieldingly urging the associated arm to maintain the shoe e5 thereof always in contact with its wire i2 and t3. At the outer side of each arm i6 and 6.? is an insulating BX cable- 5I, containing the lead (not shown) running down along the arm from the latters shoe 45; said shoe being suitably insulated from the arm.

Delineation is omitted of the electrical connections from the two leads carried by the arms 45 and 41 whereby within the car I6 the motor may be started, stopped and run at various se" lected speeds, by manipulation in a familiar way of the controller 52, and the other electrical connections whereby there may be electrically operated the windshield wipers (not shown), and also the diagrammatically indicated television transmitting apparatus 53, the radio transmitter 5d having the microphone 55, and the motion picture camera 56; as said electrical connections are matters for the electrician.

Three seats, for the persons to be carried by the car, are indicated at 51, 58 and 59. The glass top of the car may be as shown at 60; and one side of the car may have one or more suitable doors (not shown) at one or both sides thereof.

It is to be clearly understood that the mechanism herein referred to and described can pertain to a regular passenger car or can be just as conveniently constructed along midget lines and carry no passengers but can be amply equipped to carry various items for relaying details of the races or events taking place. rEelevision or movie camera for broadcasting or nlm recording or any popular method of relaying may be employed not only for the lconvenience of those present at the track but may be sent out by wire to the television machines of the public.

'While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise constructions herein disclosed and the right is reserved to all changes and modications coming within the scope of the invention as dened in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent, is:

l. In an aerial car for use over a racetrack and adapted to travel on parallel cables supported horizontally over the racetrack, a support pivoted on the longitudinal axis of said car to freely pivot relative to said car opposed outwardly extending members secured to said support, said outwardly extending members having inwardly extending upper ends, shafts mounted in said inwardly extending upper ends of said members, and grooved wheels mounted on said shafts and adapted to run on the supporting cables.

2. In an aerial car for use over a racetrack and adapted to travel on parallel cables supported horizontally over the racetrack, iront and rear supports pivoted on the longitudinal axis of said car to freely pivot relative to said car, .pairs of opposed outwardly extending members secured to said supports, said outwardly extending members having inwardly extending upper ends, shafts mounted in said inwardly extending upper ends of said members, and grooved wheels mounted on said shafts and adapted to run on the supporting cables.

3. In an aerial car for use over a racetrack and adapted to travel on parallel cables supported horizontally over the racetrack, front and rear supports pivoted on the longitudinal axis of said car, to freely pivot relative to said car, a longitudinal brace connecting said front and rear supports, pairs of opposed outwardly extending members secured to said supports, said outwardly extending members having inwardly extending upper ends carrying rotative shafts, and

grooved wheels mounted on said shafts and adapted to run on the supporting cables.

ROBERT A. MASSEY.

REFERENCES CITED rThe following references are of record in the lc of this patent:

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